No one likes
having their tone misunderstood when it could mean the difference between a
promotion or a public-relations disaster. It’s not a worry we outgrow in our
careers. Whether you’re 22 and starting your first job or 65 and ready to leave
it, everyone’s concerned about how they send emails.

That’s what
Fundera found when it surveyed 1,000 Americans
across generations about their work email usage. It turns out, according to the
survey, that we’re willing to grant some leniency to certain situations. But
here are the critical mistakes Fundera found that we won’t forgive in
emails:

Memes make you untrustworthy

As a millennial
who identifies as a GIF-emoting bot, I was surprised to learn that so many of
my fellow millennials penalize the use of memes. As more modern workplaces turn
to instant messaging platforms like Slack, the rules around work language are stretching
to include GIFs and informal punctuation.

But according
to this survey, the majority of U.S. workers are still sensitive to having our
“jk jk” (that’s “just kidding” for non-millennials) misunderstood. Employees
who used memes in workplace communications were seen as less professional, less
trustworthy, less serious, and less intelligent by respondents. On a five-point
scale, where 1 was very inappropriate and 5 was model-behavior appropriate,
emojis and acronyms ranked 2.1 and memes ranked 1.9. All-caps emails were seen
as the most unforgivable, inappropriate mistake by respondents.

But even if you
can’t LOL now, you can later in your career. Fundera found that we will loosen
up about our work communication as we rise through the ranks. Participants who
worked in upper management were the most likely group to include all the
no-no’s of acronyms, emojis, memes, and all-caps emails, and they were the
group least likely to find this informal language inappropriate.

Lesson learned.
When you’re the boss, you set the tone in corporate emails and can send all the
all-caps, LOL JK’s that you wish.

No heart-eyes emojis

A smiley-face
emoji was found to be largely acceptable by respondents. Heart-eyes, less so.
Emojis with hearts, like the kissy-face and the heart-shaped eyes, were seen to
be the least appropriate emojis by respondents. We are apparently willing to
show praise, but not intense emotions like love and affection, in a corporate
setting.

Of course,
emoji policing varied from industry to industry. Participants in the arts and
entertainment fields were the most free with their emoji use in emails, while
participants in government, public administration, and telecommunications jobs
were the most restrictive with their emoji usage.

Above all: We will forgive wrong attachments, but not
typos

One more reason
to double check before you hit send: Minor mistakes add up. Sending out an
email with misspellings was seen as less acceptable than sending one with a
wrong attachment, according to participants. According to Fundera, more than 1
in 5 people said it was not at all acceptable to send out emails with typos.
Cognitive psychologists have found that may be because we see grammar
errors as a sign of a person’s conscientiousness, intelligence, and
trustworthiness.

At least, you
can pass off a wrong attachment as a technical error. The typo’s all on you.

So, before you
send off that email to a client you don’t know — or the executive who’s about
to interview you — think twice before riffing with a meme or GIF or emoji.

Above all,
double check for typos.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good NetiquetteAnd A Green Internet To All! =====================================================================

Tabula
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===============================================================In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ
has a website with great
assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the
premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to
Improve,
Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super
Charge
Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” has just been
published and will be followed by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for
young people. You can view my
profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

Anyone who would like to review the book and have it posted on my blog or website, please contact me paul@netiquetteiq.com.

In addition to this blog, I maintain a radio show on BlogtalkRadioand an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo. I am also a
member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and
Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman
Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been
contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ andPSG of Mercer County, NJ.

Additionally, I am the president of Tabula Rosa Systems,
a “best of breed” reseller of products for communications, email,
network management software, security products and professional
services. Also, I am the president of Netiquette IQ. We are currently developing an email IQ rating system, Netiquette IQ, which promotes the fundamentals outlined in my book.

Over
the past twenty-five years, I have enjoyed a dynamic and successful
career and have attained an extensive background in IT and electronic
communications by selling and marketing within the information
technology market.